Electric bikes and scooters currently sold in India are not known for performance. They’re rather slow. All this changed at the Expo. 3 new bikes were launched at the Auto Expo, all of them much quicker than KTM Dukes and Bajaj Pulsars sold in India.

What are these bikes?

The 2018 Auto Expo witnessed the launch of three new performance bikes – UM Renegade Thor, Menza Lucat and Emflux One. While the UM Renegade Thor is a cruiser bike, the Lucat is a naked street performance bike and the Emflux One is the fully-faired performance bike. These bikes are quite quick on paper, even quicker than the KTM 390 Duke and the Pulsar Pulsar RS200.

The KTM 390 Duke can do a top speed of 160 km/h and the Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 can do a top speed of around 141 km/h. Now, these are one of the quickest bikes available in the affordable segment in India.

In comparison, the UM Renegade Thor can do a claimed top speed of 180 km/h. The bike is powered by a 30 kW electric motor that translates into 40 Bhp and 70 Nm. The electric cruise is first of its kind to get transmission on an electric bike. The bike an do 270 km on a full charge and also gets a quick charge option that can take the charging to 80% capacity in just 40 minutes.

The Emflux One is dubbed as India’s first electric superbike and it can do a top speed of massive 200 km/h, which has been limited electronically. The Emflux One can do 0-100 km/h in just 3 seconds, which is seriously fast. The bike is powered by a 60 kW AC induction motor that has been limited to 53 kW for safety. It translates into 84 Nm. It gets a liquid-cooled battery pack that can be charged in 3 hours through regular charger or up to 80% charge in 36 minutes through a fast charger.

Another homegrown manufacturer, Menza launched their first bike called the Lucat at the Expo. It can do a top speed of 121 km/h and is a naked street bike. It also gets a special track package that can unlock the top speed of the bike and it can reach around 130-140 km/h. The bike gets the 72V Lithium-ion battery pack that charges in 4 hours. Through fast charging, the bike can be charged in 90 minutes. The electric motor can generate a maximum of 18 kW and 60 Nm and it has a range of 150 km on the highway.

Why the comparison?

Yes, we know that the bikes mentioned in here are quite expensive. The Menza Lucat is the most affordable of the lot and is priced at Rs. 2.79 lakh. The UM Renegade Thor is priced at Rs. 9.99 lakh while the Emflux One is priced at Rs. 6 lakh.

There is a general perception regarding electric bikes in India, that they are much slower than the conventional, internal combustion engine powered bikes. This comparison has been done to show that all the electric bikes are not slow. Yes, they are expensive because of the battery and the technology used in them but they are not slow by any means.

Also, the electric bikes have full torque output even at the idle. They are much more fun to ride when compared to the conventional vehicles. The internal combustion engine powered vehicles need to reach a certain RPM (rotation per minute) before they can extract maximum power and torque. This comparison gives an insight on how quick the electric bikes can be and the future of automobiles is not slow at all.